LAPD Awaits Audio Recordings in Manson Case

A bankruptcy court judge in Texas could help unravel additional Manson Family murder cases. Patrick Healy reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on May 25, 2012. (Published Friday, May 25, 2012)

Eight hours of audio never before heard by law enforcement has been requested by the Los Angeles Police Department, and it could link followers of the Manson Family to unsolved murders.

In a letter dated March 19, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck requested "eight hours or so" of audio recordings between attorney Bill Boyd and his then-client Charles "Tex" Watson, according to a U.S. bankruptcy filing.

Watson, the former right-hand man of Charles Manson, is currently serving a life sentence for his involvement in the 1969 Manson Family murders.

Although the LAPD has yet to receive the recordings, police believe the interviews could contain information about unsolved murders.

LAPD Wants Potential New Evidence in Manson Murders

The Los Angeles Police Department has requested eight hours of audio recordings that investigators believe may shed new light on the Manson Family. Patrick Healy reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on May 24, 2012.

(Published Friday, May 25, 2012)

"The LAPD has information that Mr. Watson discussed additional unsolved murders committed by followers of Charles Manson," Beck wrote in a request to a trustee with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The LAPD's request corresponds to the liquidation of Boyd's Texas-based law firm as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. Boyd, who died in 2009, represented Watson beginning in 1969 and "for some time thereafter," according to Beck.

"It is requested that the original recordings be given to the LAPD in order to determine if information regarding unsolved murders was included in the recordings. The LAPD, Robbery-Homicide Division will be investigating Mr. Watson's recordings…" wrote Beck.

Manson Writer: "Mom, It's Charlie Again"

When her then 10-year-old daughter picked up the phone and told her, "Mom, it’s Charlie again," Mary Neiswender says she thought she may have gotten too close to a story as a reporter at a Long Beach newspaper. Through a jail house contact, Neiswender spoke to Charles Manson before his trial -- and has maintained contact for four decades. Manson's chance to be paroled was rejected this week. NBC4's Gordon Tokumatsu reports.

(Published Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017)

A bankruptcy court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in Plano, Texas, to determine if the audio will be given to police.

The recordings remained private until September 1976 when Watson authorized their sale to author Chaplain Ray Hoekstra to help cover unpaid legal fees. Hoekstra used the material for his 1978 book "Will You Die For Me?"

Watson was sentenced to death for the murders of Abigail Ann Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Thomas Jay Sebring, Steven Earl Parent, and Sharon Tate Polanski. California temporarily suspended the death penalty in 1972, and Watson has been serving a life sentence ever since. He was most recently denied parole last November.